Guided Reading - Mixed Ability Grouping
In the last couple of years I have made the shift to mixed ability grouping in maths. The change has been driven by my observations around low achieving students. These students have always been in the low group and when they arrive into my class as Year 5/6 students in their eyes they already see themselves as being 'not good at maths'.
I have seen a similar trend in reading. I have always worked hard to help low students to climb the levels, but the rate of progress has not always been what you would hope for. It is time to make a change.
This year I am going to trial mixed ability grouping in reading. I am a passionate reader and I want to instil this same passion for reading in my students. I believe that my chances of achieving this are slim to non if I continue to group students by their reading levels and choose texts for them. The strong readers are already avid readers and the low ability readers are turned off by reading.
My big goal is to get students excited about reading and see themselves as readers. I want students to read for pleasure and see it as a genuine form of entertainment. My first step in the process will be to survey the students to find out what things they like to read about. I will use this intel to chose texts each week that are aligned with student's interests. Students will be introduced to the texts the week before and will be asked to select a top 3. I will then use these selections to put students into groups for the following week. Groups will change each week, but the focus across each group will generally be the same so that there is consistency from week to week.
I have conducted some reading in this area and there is evidence showing that this approach can work. Here are the sources that I have used:
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